Gospel

Man And the Sabbath

by Roland Crim
07/30/19
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One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” Mark 2:23-28 NIV

Ah yes, here now come the Pharisees, questioning the Lord about their man-made laws and the Sabbath. But the Sabbath was not made as a day with special laws which needed to be followed. The Sabbath was made as a day of rest, but not in the manner which the Pharisees instructed. The Sabbath is meant to be a day of rest from earthly worry, from the need to work for a living. It is meant to be a day to focus on God, and all which He provides for us. But the Pharisees just wanted to fill it with man-made laws, regulations in mass. How could anyone consider the Sabbath to be a day of rest based on the thinking of the Pharisees? God did create the Sabbath for man, not man for the Sabbath. Just as the Lord is Lord over our life, so He is also Lord of the Sabbath.

The Lord brought to the Pharisees mind the breaking of the law by David and those with him in the eating of the consecrated bread. This of course was to make His point, but we know the Pharisees were not accepting of anything which Christ said or did.

Remember always that God did create the Sabbath for man. Enjoy the benefits provided by God in the Sabbath.